After surprising his parents, teachers and the Blake administrators by graduating in 1982, Scott Forbes attended St. Lawrence University. From there he went on to work at several ad agencies in cities far and wide before settling in Denver, Colorado, where he runs a manuscript ghostwriting business and skis as much as he can.
Q: What’s the weirdest talent you have?
A: I can talk to anyone from anywhere in the world about anything during any single chairlift ride.
Q: In what ways are you the same as your childhood self?
A: I like the same music, I have many of the same friends, and I still live and die with the Minnesota Twins every summer.
Q: What is something you learned in the last week?
A: Ernest Hemingway showed up one night at the Stork Club in New York with no money in his pocket, but he did have the check for $100,000 that he'd just received for selling the film rights of "For Whom The Bell Tolls." The club famously cashed his check so he could settle his dinner and bar bill.
Q: What did you want to be when you were small?
A: Everyone knows I wanted to be a ballplayer. Then I hit about .250 in my two years playing for the Minnetonka Millers and decided I’d need to find a real job.
Q: If you could go back in time to change one thing, what would it be?
A: It would be a stormy August 26, 1990, in Alpine Valley, Wisconsin, and I'd tell Stevie Ray Vaughan (and everyone else) not to get on that helicopter.
Q: What teacher inspired you the most? How?
A: Rod Anderson. He told us all sophomore year that we were students, not grade getters. (I spent a lot of time explaining these concepts to my parents when grades and comments came out every quarter, proving I wasn't a grade getter.) Seriously, thanks to this great teacher for making a clear distinction between the two. I would take that concept with me through the rest of my scholastic life and then to my professional life. It's served me well.
Q: Tell us about a unique or quirky habit of yours.
A: At the end of the day I put all my change into a canvas bag with a $ sign on it. Every few years I take the bag to the bank and cash it in.
Q: Based on something you’ve already done, how might you make it into the Guinness Book of World Records?
A: Most and fastest job/city moves within a three-year period.
Q: If you could visit any place in the world, where would you choose to go and why?
A: Ski the shoulder-deep powder of Niseko, Japan.
Q: What’s your favorite family tradition?
A: A phone call every Wednesday afternoon to my dad and my sisters.